Dublin City Council approves community service officers training

A new Community Service Officer Program got the OK from Dublin City Council members last week, creating the new program that will allow volunteers to assist the police.

Dublin Police began looking into a "volunteer force of engaged community members to assist the police division with our goals of reducing crime, reducing traffic crashes, preparing for and handling critical incidents and addressing issues of significant community concern," in 2011, a staff report to council said.

"Our goal is to engage the community in every way," said Dublin Police Chief Heinz von Eckartsberg.

The new community service officers will be recruited from the Dublin Citizens Police Academy started last summer, von Eckartsberg said.

The next Citizens Police Academy starts in August and the 12-week program gives residents a look into what police do.

"The academy was an incredible experience," Councilwoman Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher said. She encouraged others to join the program.

The program will initially have 10 officers, but the police division's five-year strategic plan allows for as many as 30 if needed, von Eckartsberg said.

Community service officers won't be allowed to carry weapons and have no arrest authority.